When I was twenty-seven, I watched a guy jump off a high rise in downtown Dallas. Which is bad enough, of course, but the real fuck of it was that I happened to be the guy trying to talk him out of it when he jumped, yelling to him from an open window in the building next door, offering to buy him a beer, all this dumb stuff. I think, even eight years later, I’m still coming to terms with the absurdity of that day. The “Um” of it.

When I was twenty-seven, I watched a guy jump off a high rise in downtown Dallas. Which is bad enough, of course, but the real fuck of it was that I happened to be the guy trying to talk him out of it when he jumped, yelling to him from an open window in the building next door, offering to buy him a beer, all this dumb stuff. I think, even eight years later, I’m still coming to terms with the absurdity of that day. The “Um” of it.

Sometimes I want to write serious shit that’s a little darker and a little more personal. Other times, I want to write absolute bonkers shit. Although, the bonkers shit is sometimes personal too. It’s all fun though. Write whatever you want. Write the alphabet backward and forwards. Make scribbles and draw pics of butts and boobs and dicks. Whatever floats your boat. Be happy. Create everything you want before you die. 

I wish I had a technique that I could share, but it honestly comes naturally to me. I think what may help is sort of thinking of writing as a kind of play. Like with children? They don’t come up with a plan to play. They just do it, and they figure it out along the way.